The much-anticipated third T20I between England and Australia at Manchester was abandoned on Sunday after persistent rain at the venue.
Amid the disappointment, England Test captain Ben Stokes took to Instagram to offer his own cheeky thought about the weather while taking a dig at England's arch-rivals.
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How did Ben Stokes react to the rain delay?
England red ball Captain, Ben Stokes, known for his competitive spirit and sense of humour, took a light-hearted dig at the situation, referencing the rain-hit 4th Ashes Test in Australia's tour to England last year.
In his Instagram story, Stokes wrote, "Rain in Manchester AUS vs ENG, lucky Australia I guess..."
What happened in the ENG vs AUS 4th Test at Manchester in 2023?
In the 2023 Ashes series, Australia had taken a 2-0 lead, winning the first two Tests to put themselves in prime position to retain the urn. However, England fought back in the third Test at Leeds and registered a three-wicket win to make the series 2-1.
In the fourth Test at Old Trafford, Manchester, England were in prime position to make it 2-2 after they took a first innings lead of 275 runs. In the second innings, Australia were in all sorts of trouble at 113/4 at the end of Day 3, still trailing by 162 runs.
However, rain came to their rescue on Day 4 and only very little play was possible. Australia reached 214/5, still adrift of parity by 61 runs.
And the entirety of Day 5 was also washed out, which meant Australia retained the urn as they had an unassailable 2-1 lead with just one Test to go.
And in a series full of controversies like the Jonny Bairstow run out incident, this sparked a war of words from former English players and current cricketers who felt Australia were lucky to retain this urn.
And England did win the final Test to make it 2-2. However, the urn was retained by Australia. And Ben Stokes was referencing this luck with the weather in Manchester for the third T20I as well.
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What happened in the AUS vs ENG three-match T20I series?
Australia won the first T20I, thanks to a convincing performance from the top order batsmen and bowlers.
England leveled the series with a thrilling victory in the second T20I in Cardiff. Led by an all-round performance from Liam Livingstone, who scored 87 off 47 balls and picked up two wickets, England chased down Australia’s 193 with an over to spare.
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But the spoils were shared in the end as the third game was washed out.
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